Mike Leach is the first WSU coach since Bill Doba to earn Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors. Quarterback Luke Falk, receiver Gabe Marks and offensive tackle Joe Dahl were all named to the All-Pac-12 first team Tuesday.

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Stefanie Loh
By
Seattle Times staff reporter

Washington State coach Mike Leach has been named the Pac-12’s co-coach of the year, along with Stanford’s David Shaw, the league announced on Tuesday evening.

The Cougars were picked to finish fifth in the Pac-12 North preseason poll, but in his fourth season at WSU, Leach has led the Cougars to an 8-4 overall record and a 6-3 record in the Pac-12.

WSU led the nation with 397.0 average passing yards per game and the Cougars were ranked No. 20 in the AP, Coaches and College Football Playoff rankings in the week leading up to the Apple Cup against UW. It marked the Cougars’ first top-20 ranking since the 2003 season at WSU.

Leach joined the 100-win club this season with the Cougars’ overtime win at Oregon. Last month, Leach was also named a semifinalist for the George Munger Collegiate Coach of the Year Award.

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Leach is the first WSU coach to earn Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors since 2003, when Bill Doba won the award. He’s the fifth WSU coach in program history to be named Pac-10/12 Coach of the Year.  The others are: Jim Walden (1981, 1983), Dennis Erickson (1988), Mike Price (1997, 2001) and Doba.

WSU also had 11 Cougars named All-Pac 12 selections.

Cal quarterback Jared Goff started hot, but Washington State quarterback Luke Falk perhaps impressed Pac-12 coaches with his cool under pressure, his record-breaking stats and the efficient way in which he led WSU to its best season in more than a decade.

In an unusual move, Goff and Falk were both named to the All-Pac-12 first team when league awards were unveiled Tuesday afternoon. The Pac-12 head coaches vote for the all-conference teams, and there’s usually only one quarterback on each of the first and second teams. But there was a tie between Goff and Falk for first team honors this week.

There was also a tie at wide receiver, so six receivers — instead of the usual four — earned all conference honors on the first and second teams.

WSU’s Gabe Marks, Cal’s Kenny Lawler and USC’s JuJu Smith-Schuster were named to the first team, while Colorado’s Nelson Spruce and Oregon’s Bralon Addison and Darren Carrington were named to the second team.

WSU left tackle Joe Dahl, an All-Pac-12 honorable mention selection in 2014, was also named to the all-conference first team.

The Cougars didn’t have any representatives on the All-Pac-12 first team defense, but defensive linemen Darryl Paulo and Destiny Vaeao were named to the All-Pac-12 second team.

WSU also did not have any representatives on the All-Pac-12 special teams squads.

Free safety Shalom Luani, offensive lineman Cole Madison, defensive lineman Hercules Mata’afa, linebacker Peyton Pelluer, offensive lineman Riley Sorenson and receiver Dom Williams were all named Pac-12 honorable mention selections.

All-Pac-12 Offense

First Team Offense Second Team Offense
QB Luke Falk, So., Washington State QB Kevin Hogan, Sr., Stanford
QB Jared Goff, Jr., California
RB Royce Freeman, So., Oregon RB Devontae Booker, Sr., Utah
RB Christian McCaffrey, So., Stanford RB Paul Perkins, Jr., UCLA
WR Kenny Lawler, Jr., California WR Bralon Addison, Jr.. Oregon
WR Gabe Marks, Jr., Washington State WR Darren Carrington, So., Oregon
WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, So., USC WR Nelson Spruce, Sr., Colorado
TE Austin Hooper, Jr., Stanford TE Thomas Duarte, Jr., UCLA
OL Zach Banner, Jr., USC OL Jake Brendel, Sr., UCLA
OL Joe Dahl, Sr., Washington State OL J.J. Dielman, Jr., Utah
OL Joshua Garnett, Sr., Stanford OL Conor McDermott, Jr., UCLA
OL Tyler Johnstone, Sr, Oregon OL Christian Westerman, Sr., Arizona State
OL Kyle Murphy, Sr., Stanford OL Chad Wheeler, Jr., USC

All-Pac-12 Defense

First Team Defense Second Team Defense
DL DeForest Buckner, Sr., Oregon DL Darryl Paulo, Sr., Washington State
DL Kenny Clark, Jr., UCLA DL Delvon Simmons, Sr., USC
DL Lowell Lotulelei, So., Utah DL Taniela Tupou, Sr., Washington
DL Aziz Shittu, Sr., Stanford DL Destiny Vaeao, Sr., Washington State
DL Antwaun Woods, Sr., USC
LB Su’a Cravens, Jr., USC (2) LB Travis Feeney, Sr., Washington
LB Blake Martinez, Sr., Stanford LB Deon Hollins, Jr., UCLA
LB Gionni Paul, Sr., Utah LB Jared Norris, Sr., Utah
DB Budda Baker, So., Washington DB Chidobe Awuzie, Jr., Colorado
DB Adoree’ Jackson, So., USC DB Randall Goforth, Jr., UCLA
DB Sidney Jones, So., Washington DB Ronnie Harris, Sr., Stanford
DB Marcus Williams, So., Utah DB Jaleel Wadood, So., UCLA

All-Pac-12 Specialists

First Team Specialists Second Team Specialists
PK Aidan Schneider, So., Oregon PK Ka’imi Fairbairn, Sr., UCLA
P Tom Hackett, Sr., Utah (3) P Drew Riggleman, Sr., Arizona
RS Christian McCaffrey, So., Stanford RS Adoree’ Jackson, So., USC
AP/ST Charles Nelson, So., Oregon AP/ST Soma Vainuku, Sr., USC

All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention selections from WSU

  • DB Shalom Luani, Jr.
  • OL Cole Madison, So.
  • DL Hercules Mata’afa, Fr.
  • LB Peyton Pelluer, So.
  • OL Riley Sorenson, Jr.
  • WR Dom Williams, Sr.
Stefanie Loh: sloh@seattletimes.com; on Twitter: @StefanieLoh. Stef Loh has covered college football in four conferences on both coasts, but her heart has always been rooted in the Pacific Northwest. She joined The Seattle Times in August 2015. She loves wine tasting, Olympic weightlifting, fall colors and college football Saturdays.